We hate cough drops almost as much as we hate coughing. The ones we buy in the store either taste like candy or some kind of poison, and the throat-soothing affect of either is always a little dubious. But here are some cough drops we think we can get on board with: the homemade kind!

This tutorial comes by way of the Instructables website, and simply combines super-concentrated tea with a dose of sugar. You boil them together until reaching the hard-crack stage and then pour the syrup into a simple mold made of powder sugar to harden. (By the by, that powder sugar mold has intriguing candy-making possibilities, no?)

One batch makes dozens of little lozenges - more than enough to keep us stocked through the cold and flu season. Wrapped in wax paper, we can carry them around in a pocket or backpack for when we need them. We think a little packet would also make an excellent addition to a care package for a sick friend or family member.

The tutorial makes this look easy enough to do even while sick, but we think we'll make a preventative batch just to be on the safe side!

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Emma is the recipe editor for The Kitchn and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. She is the author of True Brews and Brew Better Beer (Spring 2015). Check out her personal blog for more cooking stories.